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Winners of the 2014 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes announced

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A $2 smartphone microscope and floaties for choppers: Australians rewarded for excellence in science

Last night the 2014 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes winners were announced at an Award Dinner held at Sydney Town Hall. A total of 15 prizes were given for outstanding contributions to Australian science. With so many fabulous entries it was difficult to pick the winners.

“I’m extremely impressed by the amazing scientific work happening around our country,” Australian Museum Director and CEO Kim McKay said. “I want to extend an enormous thank you to all the sponsors and supporters of the Eureka Prizes for helping us continue to reward excellence in Australian science.”

The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes are the country’s most comprehensive national science awards. The Eurekas have been rewarding science since 1990—celebrating 25 years in 2014.

Full media releases for each prize winner are available at australianmuseum.net.au/eureka.

The 2014 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes: [Read more…] about Winners of the 2014 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes announced

Buddhist singing bowls inspire new tandem solar cell design

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The shape of a centuries-old Buddhist singing bowl has inspired a Canberra scientist to re-think the way that solar cells are designed to maximize their efficiency.

Dr Niraj Lal, of the Australian National University,  found during his PhD at the University of Cambridge, that small nano-sized versions of Buddhist singing bowls resonate with light in the same way as they do with sound, and he’s applied this shape to solar cells to increase their ability to capture more light and convert it into electricity.

“Current standard solar panels lose a large amount of light-energy as it hits the surface, making the panels’ generation of electricity inefficient,” says Niraj. “But if the cells are singing bowl-shaped, then the light bounces around inside the cell for longer”. [Read more…] about Buddhist singing bowls inspire new tandem solar cell design

Can vets help fight domestic violence by identifying pet abuse?

Media call: 11am, 17 August 2014 with researchers and dogs at The University of Sydney Veterinary Teaching Hospital, NSW Lydia Tong Credit OK-White Lane

Pet abuse and domestic violence are closely linked. Animals can’t talk but University of Sydney vet Dr Lydia Tong has shown vets how to tell the difference between bone fractures caused by accidents and those caused by abuse. Her fracture identification methods are giving vets the added confidence to identify cases of violence against pets and could serve as a warning of domestic violence.

Now, in a new study with Domestic Violence NSW, Lydia is looking deeper into the connections between animal abuse and domestic violence to assess the need for better services to protect both human and animal victims.

“Around 70% of women escaping violent homes also report pet abuse,” says Lydia. “So vets are often the first to see evidence of abuse in a family, when they treat injured pets.”

“Different forces on bones can tell a story—the skeleton of an animal keeps a distinct record that indicates the force applied to bones from past injuries, breaks or fractures. But it can often be difficult for vets to say with confidence whether a fracture has resulted from abuse or accident.”

To give vets this confidence, in a 2014 study, Lydia collected cases of abused dogs who were punched, hit with a blunt weapon or kicked, and examined the fractures from these injuries. She then compared these fractures to those caused by genuine accidents. Her results, published in The Veterinary Journal, identified five key features of fractures that vets could look for to distinguish accidents from abuse.

Now, having given vets this reference to diagnose abuse, Lydia and her colleagues at The University of Sydney are gathering more information on the connections between domestic violence and animal abuse. [Read more…] about Can vets help fight domestic violence by identifying pet abuse?

Finalists for the 25th edition of the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes

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Forty-four entries have been selected as finalists for the 15 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes worth a total of $150,000 in prize money. The finalists are from Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, ACT, Victoria and New South Wales.

The achievements of the 2014 Eureka Prize finalists are inspirational and vitally important for Australia,” Kim McKay AO, director and CEO of the Australian Museum said. “The finalists’ inventions and research will save lives, safeguard our environment for the future, and ensure the viability of Australian industry.”

The Australian Museum Eureka Prizes are the country’s most comprehensive national science awards, honouring excellence in Research and Innovation, Leadership, Science Communication and Journalism, and School Science. 2014 is the 25th edition of the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes. They were first awarded in 1990.

[Read more…] about Finalists for the 25th edition of the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes

Face to face with moths and manta rays

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Australian Museum New Scientist Eureka Prize for Science Photography highly commended and finalists announced – from Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria, ACT and New South Wales.

Three finalists and seven highly commended images have been selected for the 2014 Australian Museum New Scientist Eureka Prize for Science Photography.

The images bring you face to face with manta rays, moths and the crown-of-thorns starfish, and even closer to microscopic flowerbuds and human tissue wreathed by nanoparticles. They will be published today on the Australian Museum and New Scientist websites, and are also available for publication.

[Read more…] about Face to face with moths and manta rays

Captions-2014 Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Science Photography

Wednesday 10-September: The first, second and third place winners will be announced at the Award Dinner and that information will be embargoed until the time of announcement in the course of the dinner. The winner themselves won’t know until it’s announced on stage.

Press release and high resolution copies available online at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/eureka.

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[Read more…] about Captions-2014 Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Science Photography